Chapter 6
Dominic had to give him credit. He lasted all the way through pancakes before finally giving in.
“Okay,” Austin said in a rush, dropping his fork. “I gotta know. Is it a collar?”
Dominic eyed him over his pancakes. Austin had barely touched his own pancakes, except when Dominic told him to eat, too busy snarking at him and twirling his fork in a way that dragged Dominic’s attention to those long, inked fingers.
“I told you,” Dominic said. “It’s a surprise.”
“It’s a collar,” Austin said flatly, looking over at the bag on the end of the table. Dominic had mostly placed it there to see Austin’s reaction, which was so full of eager nerves he regretted not placing it right next to him.
“It’s not a collar,” Dominic said.
“Oh.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“No,” Austin said, and blinked. “Uh. I don’t think so.”
Dominic filed that information away for later and cut another precise slice off his stack of pancakes he’d made.
He’d brought the batter and garnishes; Austin provided the frypan.
Then he’d run around the kitchen, trying to find an electric beater to whip the cream, because of course Austin didn’t know where his basic kitchen utensils were.
Dominic had seen the inside of his fridge, and it was a constant stream of meal prep crap delivered to his door.
“You have to give me a hint,” Austin said, tearing his gaze away from the bag on the table. “Come on. Is it lacy?”
“No lace,” Dominic said. “This time.”
Austin gave him an eager, nervous grin. “This time? What else are you making me wear?”
Dominic reached over the table to nudge his plate. “Eat your pancakes.”
Austin picked up his fork, giving an effortlessly sexy flip before he dug obediently into his pancakes. He’d accepted two of them, but only after Dominic had wiped the pan clean of butter before he poured them in. And he hadn’t poured anything on them except for a thin line of syrup.
Dominic looked down at his own stack of pancakes: five of them, crispy with butter, piled high with whipped cream and banana slices. Sometimes Austin’s eating habits made him genuinely sad.
Austin cleared his plate and sat back, wiping his mouth.
“Good,” Dominic told him. “Have another.”
He started sliding another pancake onto Austin’s plate.
Austin pulled his plate away and lifted his shirt, flexing to show his toned abs. “What part of contractually obligated do you not get?”
“You’re not under contract right now,” Domnic said. “And you could make them take that clause out of your next job.”
Austin looked down at his abs consideringly. “I do miss complex carbs.”
“Say you’re bulking up,” Dominic offered.
“They’d want that to mean muscle.”
“Well, they can go fuck themselves.”
Austin stared at him with an incredulous smile. “Wow. You’re really passionate about this.”
“You already knew that.”
“Yeah, but I knew the polite version,” Austin pointed out, spinning that damn fork again with such dexterity Dominic wanted to put his own cutlery down and watch it. Or maybe start sucking Austin’s fingers.
“I had to keep up some semblance of professionalism,” Dominic said. “Figure I can let that go when I’m not on shift.”
Austin beamed like that was the best thing he ever heard.
Then he ducked his head—something he did often, Dominic noticed.
Like he didn’t want anyone to see how big his smile could get.
When he was onscreen, all his smiles were threatening.
Nobody could call this smile threatening.
Dominic had to fight the urge to grab his chin and force his head up to see it in full bloom.
“Look,” Austin said, spinning that fork so fast it blurred. “You’re in charge, or whatever. But can I ask for one thing?”
Dominic glanced over at the bag waiting at the end of the table. “Depends what it is.”
“Can I have a kiss?”
Dominic stifled a smile. How anyone could be intimidated by this guy was beyond him.
He leaned over the table and took Austin’s chin. Austin’s breath caught, and Dominic marveled at how easily affected he was.
“You really haven’t done this much before,” Dominic said. “Have you?”
Austin frowned. “I told you.”
“You said you hadn’t asked much,” Dominic corrected. “I assumed you’d experimented. Or paid someone.”
Austin spluttered. “You think I hired a hooker?”
“A rich actor paying somebody to fulfil the sexual fantasies no one else will play into?” Dominic deadpanned, stroking Austin’s stubble. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Austin shrugged. He still looked distracted by Dominic holding his face.
“I thought about it,” Austin admitted. “But, eh. Feel like it’d be weird.”
“Weird?”
“To do that with someone I don’t know, or whatever,” Austin said hastily, like he was trying to get it over with. “Am I getting my kiss or not?”
Dominic kissed him deeply. He couldn’t help but dig his fingers into Austin’s chin, feeling Austin moan against his mouth.
So, he was the first person to have Austin like this.
The knowledge made him want to ruin Austin for anybody else.
How could nobody tell that this was what he really wanted?
Sure, he played into the tough guy schtick.
But someone should have been able to tell his heart wasn’t in it. Especially in bed.
Dominic was going to reduce Austin to his truest parts, he decided. Strip him free of his bullshit until he couldn’t do anything but submit.
He pulled back, gratified by how big Austin’s pupils were from just one kiss. Then he took the bag and dropped it into Austin’s lap.
“Go upstairs,” he said. “Put this on and kneel on the bed. You have two minutes.”
Austin laughed. “I’m being timed now?”
Dominic checked his watch.
Austin bolted for the stairs, still chuckling. He bounced up the stairs two at a time, and Dominic tried to remember if he’d ever seen Austin this carefree. It looked good on him.
Dominic palmed himself and waited. He could use this time to do the dishes. But Austin had a maid coming by later, and he wanted to bask in the image of what was waiting for him upstairs.
Would Austin be weirded out? Dominic sure as fuck would be. He just had to hope that Austin was into this sort of thing. This sort of thing being that Dominic was, at times, a line-crossing little shit.
He had high hopes. He’d crossed a hell of a lot of lines already, and Austin had seemed not just happy about it, but grateful.
Dominic let go of his denim-clad cock and checked his watch.
One minute, forty seconds.
He gave it another ten. Then he followed Austin upstairs to see his fantasy come true.